| Have you ever had someone give you really good advice, but at the time you didn’t realize it? That’s what happened to me quite some time ago. Back when I was young and slightly more dumber than I am now, I took classical guitar lessons from a great guitarist down in Chico, CA. I would drive over an hour to get to Chico State University where he taught. One day in a lesson he tells me I should practice playing the piece I’m working using only one hand at a time. Meaning, isolate my right hand and just work on that hand alone. The left hand does nothing. Then, repeat that with the other hand. At the time, he didn’t emphasize how important it was, so I tried it for a little bit, didn’t think much of it, and forgot about it. That was real dumb. It wasn’t until years later that I realized what a powerful tool that one little technique is. Today, I teach my students to do this same thing, only with a little more emphasis and some extra little instructions about what they need to do (like keeping the motions in each hand the same as they would be if they were playing normally, slowing down to correct errors, testing the results by playing the passage with both hands together, etc). So, how would you use this gem when you practice? Simple. Pick a short lick, a riff, scale, arpeggio, etc. Just keep it on the shorter side, or break up something long into short chunks. Next, play the item 3 times perfectly in the fretting hand only (that means you may need to slow way down). Play the item 3 times perfectly in the picking hand only (this means you’ll only hear open strings). Then, try playing it with both hands. Repeat this process until you see improvement. Tell me how it goes. Want more practical guitar practice tips like this? Grab my free guide — 5 Mistakes That Keep Guitar Players Stuck — and I’ll send you weekly tips straight to your inbox. Get the Free Guide |